The Solution Strengthened: Confusing it may seem, but between the Orthodox followers of Athanasius and those of the heretic Arius, there was no question that the reference in here was to the pre-existent Person of our Lord, although there was a vital difference as to the interpretation. C.D. Alexander, in his exposition of John’s Gospel, declared, “That John’s doctrine of the Word is deeply rooted in Proverbs 8 there can be no doubt when Solomon’s passage is carefully considered. The first five verses (22-26) describe the existence of the Word (Wisdom) before creation, and the remaining five (27-31) tell of the participation of the Word in creation itself. The first three verses of John’s Gospel are but a condensation of this passage in Proverbs.” Commentators tried to link John’s Logos with Greek philosophy, especially that of the Alexandrian Jew, Philo. In fact, John’s doctrine is radically different from the Logos-idea of Philo. A.H. Strong states, “Instead of Philo’s doctrine being a stepping-stone from Judaism to Christianity, it was a stumbling-stone.” He goes on, “The Christian doctrine of the Logos was perhaps, before anything else, an effort to express how Jesus Christ was God (theos), and yet in another sense not the God (ho theos, Jn. 1:1); that is, He was not the whole Godhead” (ST, p.320; Liddon, The Divinity of our Lord, pp.63-72).